Change management enables global customer to migrate Skype to Teams

Snapshot

Our global customer’s Audio/Visual User Communications (AVUC) Team needed to migrate all 2,400 users of Skype for Business onto Microsoft Teams. In the past, system updates resulted in a poor user experience. An efficient transition onto Microsoft Teams would enable the customer to successfully host their internal and external meetings and create a streamlined scheduling and communication process for the many assistants managing calendars.

Kalles Group designed a migration project plan to minimize the impact to the organization and keep every user informed. Throughout the project, the team provided tailored and targeted communications to each segment of the worldwide user audience. The agile nature of the plan enabled the team to pivot their approach to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions and to smoothly and successfully complete the transition from start to finish.

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Challenge

The AVUC Team of this large, global non-profit organization faced the complex challenge of migrating all 2,400 Skype for Business users onto Microsoft Teams. Because the customer has multiple offices and works with individuals in many countries, effective video communications are vital.

The organization relies heavily on meetings involving both internal and external participants, often including several individuals and requiring extensive communication between a large number of assistants for scheduling. Historically, the customer has had negative experiences with system updates and was dissatisfied with their user experience. The AVUC Team reached out to Kalles Group to help them successfully migrate all users from Skype for Business onto Microsoft Teams.

Approach

Kalles Group provided the AVUC Team with a full 8-month project plan that included initial resources for immediate needs, such as user guides and user-facing project-detail websites. These initial steps ensured that the project began efficiently and emphasized transparency and communication.

Next, Kalles Group segmented audiences based on their unique needs. Program assistants in the organization are most involved in scheduling meetings, so they received key messaging with detailed project information, timelines, and critical user guides for the most common scheduling scenarios.

All user materials were continuously updated based on scheduling timelines, including Skype Room to Teams Room transitions. Additionally, regional offices received on-site visits for learning and demo opportunities. Kalles Group also provided monthly posters and weekly newsletters with key focuses such as navigating Teams Chat, Meetings, and File Collaborations.

Results

Through the guidance of Kalles Group, the AVUC Team was able to accomplish their daunting undertaking on time. In addition, Kalles Group provided a project plan that addressed key migration needs at optimal times with themes for each month, extensive messaging, and hands-on learning sessions that resulted in a smooth transition and minimal disruption for every user.

Because Kalles Group provided a project plan that was agile in nature, the AVUC Team could effectively pivot their migration when COVID-19 hit and focus on user migration exclusively, as room migration was not possible due to travel restrictions. Kalles Group provided key guidance that supported a smooth and efficient transition onto the Microsoft Teams system from start to finish—even through a global pandemic.

Going through a migration during a very sensitive time isn’t easy. Our migrations have been seamless, and a lot of that success is due to the amazing work of Kalles Group in both change management and communications within the Teams Enablement Project, as well as their leadership in driving the Tech Learning Service.

Project Manager, Audio/Visual User Communications
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